KZBlog

Thanks to Micheal Hancock at Registan for drawing my attention to this website claiming to advertise a Kazakh-style resort/theme park in California. As the article in Registan points out, the English on the website is highly suspicious, particularly the guest book which supposedly lists comments from Americans who have been to the park. For example, this comment by Serge and Jennifer which namedrops Angeline Jolie (surely if Jolie had been to such a park, it would be all over the press:

We were living in a yurta nearby to Angelina Jolie! Certainly, not nearby, but nevertheless sometimes we met at a restaurant and on the holiday of Nauryz. It is hard to believe that the stars can take a rest at the same places where simple people do! But here’s actually cool – the food is delicious and holidays are brigh. And these horses, camels, falcons. I do not think that in other place it is possible to experience similar sensations! Only to go to Kazakhstan. Guys, thank you, great job!!

“I do not think that in other place” is typical Ruslish, as is “simple people” and the weird comma use. A TinyEye.com search of the guestbook images finds that a couple of them are also taken from other websites. As do TinyEye searches of other “Pictures of the park” itself. In fact, some of the photos, they haven’t bothered to crop the credits to other websites!

Residents in California have never heard of it and the caretaker’s name (Karim Kulibayev) is a mash-up of the Prime Minister’ of Kazakhstan’s first name and the President’s son-in-law/head of Samruk-Kazyna Timur Kulibayev.

According to Nathan in the comments, the site is registered to someone naming themselves after Timur Bekmambetov’s company. But is he really based in Nicosia, Cyprus? Or is it his lawyers, as Micheal notes?

Registrant ID: M0HSMX3-RU
Registrant Name: Bekmambetov Projects Limited
Registrant Organization: Bekmambetov Projects Limited
Registrant Street1: 3 Themistokli Dervi str.
Registrant City: NICOSIA
Registrant Postal Code: 255549
Registrant Country: CY

The theory that is some form of viral advertising for a new Bekmambetov movie (Altyn Adam, maybe?) is belied by the use of stock images and the fact that’s it’s not very well-done. Compare it to Super 8‘s viral site, scariestthingieversaw.com. Maybe Bekmambetov is remaking WestWorld and robotic Kazakh batyrs will come to life and slay famous Hollywood actors and power players and hippies?

Oddly, while you might expect fake Kazakhstan websites to mock Kazakhstan a la Borat, the site definitely is positive about Kazakh culture.

What do you think gentle readers? What is the point of this thing?
Maybe it’s just to demonstrate a new Kazakh blogging software alternative to WordPress?
An attempt to shame the government into opening such a park? If so, can it please be near Astana?
Or just boosting Cyprus’ presence on the web?

EDIT: The site is dead, and appears to have been down for a while. So perhaps we will never know what the point was.